jista' jkun li
A Possibility About a Claim
Jista' jkun li precedes content with its own subject, time and polarity.
How It Works
Jista' jkun li introduces a claim as possible. The introductory forms are third-person singular; the clause after li identifies the participant concerned. Its predicate can therefore refer to Marija, a shop or the speaker without matching the introduction's person. Content can describe a completed event with a perfect or a present state with a nominal predicate.
Compare jista' jaqra, “he can read,” which can describe ability, with a possibility concerning whether somebody has read something. The latter evaluates a claim. Keep negation's scope clear: jista' jkun li ma nifhimx considers my lack of understanding possible; it does not deny that possibility. A present nominal content clause can lack an overt equivalent of English “is.” The adjective or participle still describes the content's subject, and the introduction does not establish that the claim is true.
Examples (3)
- Jista' jkun li Marija ħarġet kmieni.
It is possible that Marija left early.
The perfect identifies Marija's completed departure.
- Jista' jkun li l-ħanut magħluq illum.
It is possible that the shop is closed today.
The nominal content describes a state without an overt present copula.
- Jista' jkun li ma nifhimx din il-kelma.
It is possible that I do not understand this word.
First-person negation belongs to the possible claim; the introduction stays third-person singular.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Present a proposition as possible through a third-person singular introduction. The content can concern another person or a nominal state; its negation belongs to that possible claim.
- jista' + imperfectBeing Able to
The ability lesson supplies the modal construction and its negation-scope contrast, preparing the shift to evaluating an entire claim.
Level 2 - jkunA Nonpast Form of Kien
Recognizing the auxiliary form helps parse the introduction separately from the content's independently agreeing predicate.
Level 2 - li + clauseLinking a Following Clause
The clause-linking lesson already permits verbal and nominal content with its own subject, time and polarity.
Level 2
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
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